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Brent Hendricks and Barbra Hendricks

When Barbra Hendricks gave birth to her daughter in 1987, she was surprised when Tiffany was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis (CF). Three years later, when her son Brent was born, he also was diagnosed with CF.

Cystic Fibrosis is a genetic disease that mainly affects the digestive system and lungs. There is no cure.

In 2002 at the age of 15, Tiffany died. In March of this year Barbra and Brent came to the StoryCorps booth in Atlanta to remember Tiffany, discuss what it is like for Brent to live with CF, the pain of losing a child, and Brent’s thoughts on death.

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BrH: Having CF is like being in a boat with a hole in it. You can keep bailing the water out, and you’re fine, but the second you stop, the boat’s gonna sink. And…gotta make sure I don’t sink.

BaH: You said before that watching your sister die was like watching your own funeral.

BrH: Yeah…I guess it finally did set in, that you know that could be me…I’m gonna be the cystic in the bed, instead of her… One time, I remember I was laying in bed, and I coughed, and there was the warm sensation in the back of my throat, tasted like coughing up pennies. It was just pure blood. So, we went to the hospital—

BaH: That’s what happened to Tiffany at the end.

BrH: Yeah, that’s how Tiffany died. Her lungs wouldn’t stop bleeding. And I remember you…I could just tell how worried you were, and—

BaH: I tried to put on a happy face for you.

BrH: Yeah, you’ve always been good about that… but it was that voice that…like when things would really go wrong with Tiffany, you sounded…vulnerable. You know, there was no hiding it. It was getting to that scary point.

BaH: My mother used to say when I was a child, that if anything ever happened to one of her children, they would have to dig two holes. And I never understood what she meant. I can clearly remember standing at Tiffany’s grave, looking down at that hole, and thinking…I know now, why Nana said that. And it’s even worse, thinking, that you have the same disease. My biggest hope for you is that you just live a long, happy life. Just sucking every bit of juice out of every single day.

BrH: People are so scared of death because it’s so…unknown. There’s a really strong possibility that CF is gonna be the way I die. And I guess maybe that’s like, comforting to me. That there’s not as much uncertainty as some people. Death is like a deadline. You have to finish everything you wanna do before then. So…don’t waste your time.